Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Who Contributed to Social Work Theory and Scholarship in the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles D. Garvin ◽  
Lorraine M. Gutiérrez ◽  
Larry E. Davis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Current Period ◽  
Social Work Theory ◽  
Select Group ◽  
The Social

Oxford Bibliographies in Social Work includes three articles describing the scholarly writings of a select group of deceased social workers who have been especially prominent and influential in the profession within the United States. We refer to these individuals as social work luminaries. These three bibliographies can be used to identify the publications of prominent individuals who have been most influential in the development of social work. We identified these individuals by first reviewing the biographies of significant social workers in the Franklin’s article on Encyclopedia of Social Work and obituaries collected by the Council on Social Work Education since the publication of the Encyclopedia of Social Work. From this list we reviewed the biographical material and publications, selecting the most prominent luminaries for each of the three articles. For each luminary we provide a brief biographical overview and one to five annotated citations of their most important publications. Respectively, the three articles describe the publications of luminaries (1) who were involved in the founding and creation of the social work profession in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, (2) who subsequently contributed to the clarification and elaboration of social work practice and theory, and (3) who contributed to social work theory and scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This article presents social work luminaries who made major contributions to research and practice in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Luminaries in this era often made more use of scientific findings than those luminaries in the previous two articles. They related practice and theory to the social conditions of this more current period, and they often were concerned about a research-based (i.e., empirical) practice and incorporated contemporary ideas of social justice into their thinking. In this period, as in the previous one, most luminaries fell into one of several categories in terms of their contributions to social work scholarship, although several luminaries contributed to more than one category. We have organized this article around these different categories, which include contributions to social work methods; specific fields of service; the overall field of social work; diversity, multiculturalism, and empowerment; and social work research.

scholarly journals Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Contributing to the Clarification and Elaboration of Social Work Practice and Theory

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine M. Gutiérrez ◽  
Larry E. Davis ◽  
Charles D. Garvin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Theory ◽  
The Social

Oxford Bibliographies in Social Work includes three articles describing the scholarly writings of a select group of deceased social workers who have been especially prominent and influential in the profession within the United States. These individuals are referred to social work luminaries. These three bibliographical articles can be used to identify the publications of prominent individuals who have been most influential in the development of social work; these individuals are identified by first reviewing the biographies of significant social workers from the Encyclopedia of Social Work and obituaries collected by the Council on Social Work Education since the publication of the Encyclopedia of Social Work. From this list come the biographical material and publications, with the most prominent luminaries for each of the three articles. For each luminary is provided a brief biographical overview and one to five annotated citations of their most important publications. Respectively, the three articles describe the publications of luminaries: (1) who were involved in the founding and creation of the social work profession in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; (2) who, subsequently, contributed to the clarification and elaboration of social work practice and theory; and (3) who contributed to social work theory and scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This article presents the luminaries who wrote primarily between the 1920s and 1960s. They were aware of the pioneer work of other luminaries who created the profession of social work and began the process of creating its theoretical, ethical, and historical foundations. During these four decades, these luminaries added to the theoretical foundation of social work while also leading the expansion of social work into many new areas. This resulted in scholarship related to different sizes of service systems (individuals, groups, families, communities); new settings for social work; and the evolution of university-based education and training for social workers. During this period, luminaries fell into several categories in terms of their contributions to the evolution of social work scholarship. One category was the development of each of the social work methods as now conceived. These consisted then of Casework (e.g., Interviewing: Its Principles and Methods, Theory and Practice of Social Casework, Social Casework: A Problem-Solving Process, A Functional Approach to Family Casework, and Common Human Needs [i.e., individual work]); Group Work (e.g., Group Work with American Youth: A Guide to the Practice of Leadership, Essentials of Social Group Skill, and Social Group Work Practice: The Creative Use of Social Process); and Community Organization (e.g., Community Organization for Social Welfare, Community Action against Poverty: Readings from the Mobilization Experience, Community Organization and Social Planning, and An Overview of the Community Organization Curriculum Development Project and Its Recommendations). A second category is the adaptation of social work for different fields of service—notably rehabilitation, health, mental health, corrections, and child welfare. Some luminaries during that time were devoting themselves to developing methods for social work research and the advancement of social work theory. Other luminaries focused on considering social work approaches to Policy development. Finally, some luminaries at that time were thinking of applications for different ethnic groups, primarily Jewish and African Americans. The following is a presentation of luminaries under these categories and some of their major scholarly publications.

scholarly journals Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries contributing to the founding of social work practice, policy, and research in the United States

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine M. Gutiérrez ◽  
Larry E. Davis ◽  
Charles D. Garvin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Social Work Theory ◽  
Select Group ◽  
The Individual

Oxford Bibliographies in Social Work includes three articles describing the scholarly writings of a select group of deceased social workers who have been especially prominent and influential in the profession within the United States. The authors refer to these individuals as social work luminaries. These three articles can be used to identify the publications of prominent individuals who have been most influential in the development of social work. We identified these individuals by first reviewing the biographies of significant social workers from the Encyclopedia of Social Work, edited by Cynthia Franklin (Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers Press, 2014), and obituaries collected by the Council on Social Work Education since the publication of the Encyclopedia of Social Work. From this list, the authors reviewed the biographical material and publications, selecting the most-prominent luminaries for each of the three articles. For each luminary, a brief biographical overview and one to five annotated citations of their most important publications are provided. Respectively, the three articles describe the publications of luminaries (1) who were involved in the founding and creation of the social work profession in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, (2) who subsequently contributed to the clarification and elaboration of social work practice and theory, and (3) who contributed to social work theory and scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This article focuses on luminaries who contributed to the founding of the profession. They came to their work from different backgrounds and began the process of creating the field’s theoretical, ethical, and historical foundations. The earliest luminaries in this list contributed to the foundations of social work, with the later luminaries working on defining the field, its scope and functions, and its role in larger health and human services systems. These luminaries include those who established some of the first schools of social work in the nation. These bibliographies are ordered in chronological order on the basis of when the individual made his or her most substantial contributions to social work. These individuals and their work must be seen in the context of the eras in which they worked. The language they sometimes used could be viewed by some in the 2020s as archaic, patronizing, sexist, racist, or offensive. Some of their work may express views, such as eugenic policies, that are antithetical to the profession in the early 21st century. The authors think it imperative that those in the field recognize these historical trends and views in order to see how our field has evolved and also how it has always reflected the context and values in which it exists.

Is social work a green profession? An examination of environmental beliefs

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry V Shaw
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional

• Summary: Social work has developed to meet the needs of an industrializing society. As environmental concerns have increased, national, and international social work organizations have called on social workers to incorporate issues of the environment into their professional practice. Although there is a small body of literature related to social work and the environment, the profession has not fully embraced the need to incorporate these issues into social work education or practice. This cross-sectional survey in the United States of a random sample of National Association of Social Workers (NASW) members ( n = 373) was designed to gauge the environmental knowledge and attitudes of social work professionals. • Findings: Though social work shares many of the same underlying tenets of groups interested in environmental justice, results suggest that social workers as a profession are no more, nor less, environmentally friendly than the general population. • Applications: By failing to incorporate ecological issues facing the United States and abroad, our current social policies are at best not sustainable, and at worst dangerous for our continued social well-being. Social workers can play a leading role through an understanding of the interrelationship that exists between people and the environment, the integration of environmental issues into their social work practice, and advocating for vulnerable populations.

scholarly journals Social Work Practice and Gun Safety in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1165-1186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Logan-Greene ◽  
Michelle Sperlich ◽  
Adair Finucane
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Gun Violence ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Policy Debate

Public policy debate about guns continues in the United States, with many professional organizations taking strong stands in policy statements. Moreover, many clinical organizations have provided recommendations for practitioners to use with clients to encourage gun safety in the home, particularly for vulnerable populations such as families with young children and those at risk of suicide. Social workers are in an excellent position to encourage gun safety with some of the most at-risk populations; however, clinical guidelines and research on preventing gun violence has lagged in social work compared to other disciplines. In this article we examine the importance of gun safety for social work clients (with special attention to families with children, families experiencing violence, and individuals at risk of suicide), consider the recommendations made by other professional organizations, and provide some initial thoughts about how social workers might engage with the families they serve to reduce the incidence of gun violence.

Observation Programs in the United States: A Meeting of Social Work Colleagues

1951 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 288-294
Author(s):  
Eunice Minton
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
English Language ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Study Programs ◽  
Basic Services

In a challenging and refreshing way these colleagues have been able to strip away the chaff and quickly isolate many of the basic fundamentals in our social work practice. Perhaps their limitations in the use of the English language proved to be an asset by preventing their becoming lost in our extensive professional vocabulary. They found that this is a land of wide contradiction—of great wealth, yet much need. They also found this contradiction in our social work—great resources and a high degree of specialization, yet many gaps in basic services to people. Perhaps this presentation of a few of the comments and reactions of these fellow social workers indicates the range of their social work interests, the keenness of their perception, and the depth of their professional consciousness. These comments may also indicate some of the possible values that accrued to them through the observation and study of social work in the United States. The reactions of agencies and social workers who have participated in their study programs indicate that American social workers have been enriched through their association with these social workers of other lands; perhaps their earnest and intense seeking of knowledge about the best ways to serve people has stirred American social workers in their particular specialization grooves to think of their international responsibilities and of the fundamental objectives in our total social work practice, and to examine American social work, not only in relation to its effectiveness in achieving adequate social services, but also, of perhaps greater importance, in achieving basic social justice.

Visions of community

1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-38
Author(s):  
Pauline Jivanjee ◽  
Susan Tebb
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Women's Movements ◽  
Work Education

Experiences traveling in Kenya provide a backdrop to an examination of the principles and practices of the Harambee and women’s movements in Kenya as they compare with feminist social work practice in the United States. Concluding remarks address the implications of our learning for our work in social work education.

Beyond the Code of Ethics, Part II: Dual Relationships Revisited

2002 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 483-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Freud ◽  
Stefan Krug
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Dual Relationships ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

The authors, both social work educators, serve on an ethics call line committee that provides insights on how the provisions of the (United States) National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics (NASW, 1996) interface with the ethical dilemmas encountered by the social work community. In this paper, the authors highlight aspects of social work practice that they consider ethical, yet not easily accommodated by the provisions of the current Code. They also question the 1996 introduction of the concept of dual relationships into the Code and suggest that the Code adopt the less ambiguous term of boundary violations. Also recognized by the authors is the need for clear boundaries for the protection of clients against temptations that might arise in a fiduciary relationship, and for the legal protection of social workers. But, the authors argue, social work practitioners in certain settings, with particular populations, and in certain roles, inevitably face multiple relationships as an integral aspect of their work. The authors conclude that social work's adoption of the psychoanalytic constrains of anonymity, neutrality, and abstinence has detoured the profession from its original double focus on individuals and their society.

scholarly journals The Use of Metaphor as an Important Tool for Understanding Oppression

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Hillock
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Written Assignments ◽  
Systems Of Domination

Using an anti-oppressive practice (AOP) theoretical framework and an exploratory qualitative research design, featuring semi-structured interviews and written assignments, a group of ten social workers were asked to describe their understandings of the concept of oppression. The study found that, in the case of these particular social workers, they used metaphor as a key conceptualization process to more vividly describe and understand the concept of oppression within their social work practice. This article analyzes eight categories of metaphor themes the participants used to explain their understanding of oppression: (a) pressure; (b) earth; (c) quest; (d) nature of society;  (e) seeing; (f) building; (g) dancing; and (h) water. The research findings are intended to open up dialogue and thinking about the concept of oppression, increase our knowledge base and understandings of oppression within social work practice, and assist the social work profession to build a stronger conceptual framework for understanding and naming oppression with the end goal of assisting social workers to better respond to and resist systems of domination.

Ethnic Minority and Majority Social Workers Working with Ethnic Minority Clients: Culture-Bound Professional Interventions and Burnout among Arab and Jewish Israeli Social Workers

2021 ◽  
pp. 104973152110494
Author(s):  
Eugene Tartakovsky
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Personal Accomplishment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Majority Culture ◽  
Professional Interventions

Purpose This study tests a new bicultural model of social work with ethnic minority clients. We examined how often social workers applied professional interventions rooted in the minority and majority cultures and how the choice of interventions affected the social workers' burnout. Methods: The study was conducted in Israel, and the research samples included Arab ( n = 300) and Jewish ( n = 210) social workers. Results: We found that Arab and Jewish social workers more often used interventions rooted in the minority than in the majority culture. More frequent application of both types of interventions was associated with a higher level of personal accomplishment in both groups of social workers. However, the connection between interventions rooted in the majority culture and burnout was positive among Jewish and negative among Arab social workers. Discussion: The implementation of the obtained results in social work practice with ethnic minorities is discussed.

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